Hello Blogosphere!

Hello?!?!  Is anyone out there?!?!  Probably not, but world, I'm BACK!  

Now it's been almost a year and a half since my last post...so I'll try to catch you up really quick.  I finished my 2L year, worked for a real estate firm in Virginia, worked for the mayor's office in Charleston, served as SBA Vice President, learned how to make some banging guacamole, got over my fear of public speaking, made a lot of new friends, hosted a bachelorette party, went back to Charlottesville, was a bridesmaid in one of my best friend's weddings, got an iPhone, served as SBA President, went to D.C., turned 26, found my mojo, rediscovered running, dated a little, studied for final exams, saw Kathie Lee and Hoda Live, enjoyed Charleston's night life, graduated from law school (!!!!), started studying for the bar exam, moved out of my downtown Charleston apartment, studied, moved in with a friend for the summer, studied, ran, studied, ran, developed a severe caffeine addiction, ran, studied, studied, ran, studied until I dreamt the law, studied until I didn't sleep, drove to Roanoke, studied, took the bar, drove back to Charleston, chopped off my hair, fell into a recovery coma, went to the Dominican Republic for a recovery vacation, caught up with old friends, and am now in the process of moving to Virginia and finding a full time, grown up job (you know the kind I'm talking about: one with benefits, a regular paycheck, and a demand for a professional wardrobe).

WHEW!  The past 18 months have been stressful, challenging, and amazing (well 15 - those 3 months of studying for the bar were hell on earth).  And now?  Well now I'm unemployed and attempting to enjoy my last few weeks in Charleston.  But if I can be completely honest, I don't really do tons of free time well.  I mean I have a great tan (product of my vacation and lots of hours by the pool/beach) and I'm doing a lot of reading (almost half-way through the last Game of Thrones book) and applying for A LOT of jobs, but other than that I have a lot of hours to fill.  And I think I should do something constructive, so I've rediscovered the blogsphere.

Now most of the events that I mentioned above probably deserve their own post.  But that's a promise I'm not quite willing to make.  But I will promise this.  I need to do something good with my free time.  So I'll write.  And just in case I don't get to these events, here are a few pictures to hold you guys over on some key events of the past 18 months:

1L

I swear to God, this is the year that will NEVER END!  Exams have been over for a week by now (whew!).  But school's not out for summer quite yet.  


After the first year, law schools hold their law review competitions to see who will make the law review board.  Its a big honor and a great credential to get to add to your resume.  Some schools hold the competition in the fall right before classes start, others (like Charleston) hold it right after exams are over.


So that's what I've been doing since Monday.  Working on law review material.  Its been miserable and incredibly hard to motivate myself to do.  Thankfully, its all over Monday at noon.  


I'm getting anxious to be COMPLETELY done with my first year.  I want to hand in the competition packet, pack up, and drive home.  I'm spending the summer back in VA and I couldn't be more excited about it.  I'm homesick and miss all of my family and friends.  I miss Virginia where there temperate temperatures, only one type of biting bug, and home-cooked meals.  


One more week.  One more week.

Carolina on my Mind, Virginia in my Heart

On Friday, I am starting the next big adventure of my life.  I'm leaving my homestate and moving to a brand new place for the first time in my adult life.  I can hardly believe that this time next week I might be blogging while sitting in my new apartment in Charleston, South Carolina rather than in the living room of my parents house in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Or that next Thursday, I'll be starting law school.  How crazy is that?  I have a feeling that the next few years of my life are going to be Legally Blonde-esque - I'm not following a boy to law school, but I do feel comfortable using legal jargon in every day life, and I hope to find myself along the way.

Its been kind of a big to-do that I'm leaving.  Even though its been building for months, this week has been crazy.  My parents threw me a going away party on Friday, which was really fun (I'll post pictures soon). 

I'm really looking forward to having a fresh start.  I literally know 5 people who live there (my aunt and uncle and three cousins), so I'm excited to get to meet entirely new people and experience new things.

As dumb as this may sound, I got so caught up in the excitement of moving, that I kind of forgot that I was going to have to say good-bye to pretty much everyone I know.  And I also kind of forgot that there are things that I really love about my hometown.  Things I am going to miss.  People and places and things that my life has revolved around for nearly as long as I can remember. 

Good-byes are hard.  And I'm not good at them.  In fact, I just realized that I've been medicating/numbing myself with a huge amount of carbs.  People say good-bye in a lot of ways:

1. The ladies I work with planned a trip to visit me for a week in South Carolina.
2. My parents worry (and consequently get me worried) about a myriad of issues from parking passes to student loan rates.
3. My dog sits by the door of my room watching me pack, where, I think, she is trying to find the place where she can stow away and live with me.
4. My brother acts like nothing is going on.  But he's leaving for school in a few weeks as well.
5. Most of my friends want to spend some quality time together.  Seriously my social calendar has been off the hook for the past couple of weeks.
6. My best friend Meredith, well she's already made me cry, I have a feeling that our dinner tomorrow is going to quickly collapse into Cryfest 2010.  
7. My aunt who lives in Charleston "likes" everything I write on Facebook about moving down south (oh wait, she's more of a hello than a good-bye).

The fact that all of these people want to say good-bye to me makes me feel so loved and so special.  


I have a few more ruminations to share about the emotional and physical whirlwind that is moving, but I'll spare you for now.  Plus it will give me something else to post about later this week.  So I'll leave you here: 


For right now, I've got Carolina on my mind.  But for now and for always Virginia will be in my heart.